NBC strikes deal to prove TV ads drive movie ticket sales

For the first time, NBC Universal has struck a deal guaranteeing that commercials that run on its TV networks actually drive sales. The deal was made with STXFilms' campaign for "The Upside." NBCU is the latest TV player to guarantee an ad campaign based on business outcomes instead of traditional age and sex demographics, as the industry works to compete with Google and Facebook. Last year, Turner struck a deal with Chipotle to guarantee sales of its tacos and burritos. While many network groups have been testing various attribution models, so far most have been limited to guaranteeing other forms of business outcomes, like website visits or test drives, rather than sales. A&E Networks, AMC Networks and Discovery have also been testing attribution models. Ultimately, the goal is to change the way TV is transacted, which for decades has been based almost solely on Nielsen age and gender metrics. But while this is an important step forward, we are still in the infancy of TV attribution. For one, it's been a challenge to get marketers to open their books on sales data, even to their own agencies. Horizon handled the media buying for the campaign. NBCU plans to introduce a new attribution product in the coming weeks. It also intends to measure consumer outcomes on Fandango and also plans to work with STX on its next release, "Ugly Dolls."

NBC strikes deal to prove TV ads drive movie ticket sales

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